Effect of Al overlayers on the magnetic properties of Fe thin films

Abstract In this work, we report on the effect of Al overlayers on the magnetic properties of Fe thin films. In-plane ferromagnetic resonance has been used to measure the resonance field and linewidth, as a function of the azimuthal angle, Δ H , and Al layer thickness, t Al . The data are interpreted in the framework of a model that includes cubic magnetocrystalline and out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropies, and dispersions of the cubic axes. The main effect of the Al overlayer is to enhance the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the Fe film and to reduce the out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropy. The Al layer also induces angular dispersion in the cubic axes. We found no clear evidence of a 1/ t Al dependence of the sample parameters, as expected for interface effects.